In our second episode of What on Earth, we dive into the building blocks of our planet - minerals and rocks - and clear up some of the most common confusions right from the start.

We begin by asking a deceptively simple question: what exactly is a mineral? From there, we walk through the key criteria a substance needs to meet to earn that title - naturally occurring, solid, ordered, and chemical (yes, science does love its rules).

Once the minerals are sorted, we zoom out and talk about rocks: what makes them different, how minerals come together to form them, and why not every solid thing you find on the ground qualifies as either. We explore the three main rock families - igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic - and how each tells a different story about Earth’s history.

We also explain how geologists actually describe rocks: from texture and grain size to structure and composition, turning what looks like “just a stone” into a record of pressure, temperature, and time.

By the end of the episode, the ground beneath your feet feels a little less ordinary - and you might never look at a rock the same way again.

In our very first episode of What on Earth, we take you on a small journey through the language of science: from the days when Latin ruled academia to how English eventually became the global scientific language we use today. Along the way, we realise that science doesn’t exist in a vacuum - wars, politics, and historical turning points have shaped not only what we study, but also how we communicate it.

We also get honest about one of the biggest challenges we face as scientists: explaining complex ideas in a way that doesn’t feel intimidating or exclusive. We talk about why accessibility matters, and why science should feel like an invitation rather than a closed club.

To wrap things up, we look ahead and ask what the future of scientific communication might look like in an age of rapid technological change - and how we can keep curiosity at the centre of it all.

This episode is our starting point - and our invitation to you - to explore science with us and ask: what on Earth is really going on?

The inspiration for this episode was:

Scientific Babel: The Language of Science from the Fall of Latin to the Rise of English Book by Michael D. Gordin